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About Kanosh
Kanosh is located in the southeast corner of the Pavant Valley, with the Pahvant Mountains rising a few miles to the east, and South Mountain a few miles to the south. The Pavant Valley extends for many miles west and north, and gives way to the Sevier Desert to the west. It is part of the Sevier Basin which was once the seafloor of ancient Lake Bonneville. The Pavant Valley is an arable part of it which benefits from rainfall on the Pavant Mountains.
Kanosh is named after Chief Kanosh, a leader of the Pahvant band of Ute Indians. When Mormon settlers came to this area in 1859, they settled at a place that is called Hatton, but which was then called Petersburg. Peter Robison and Peter Boyce were the first settlers. He sought to preserve his tribe by negotiating with the settlers rather than fighting. He was baptized a member of the Mormon faith. In 1867, the settlers at Hatton moved to the current location of Kanosh, with his approval. At the time, there were 500 Pavant Indians and 100 Mormon settlers living here. Many of the Indians were baptized into the church. Although there is still an Indian reservation just outside of Kanosh, most of the Indians are intermingled with the town population and Kanosh is one of the common surnames as well as middle names for females.
U.S. Highway 91 used to pass through Kanosh on Main Street. Later on, Interstate 15 was built several miles west of town, eliminating the extra distance required in coming into the corner of the valley. The old Highway 91 is now Utah Highway 133. Since the freeway traffic bypasses Kanosh, it is a quiet and rural environment. Utah Highway 133 heads north to Meadow, a few miles away and westward back to the freeway.
The population of Kanosh is 485 at the 2000 census, with probably little change since then. The elevation ranges from about 4,980 feet on the northwest corner to 5,060 feet on the southeast. A road heads southeast out of town into Kanosh Canyon. Corn Creek flows out of the canyon and past the town.
For More Information:
See Wikipedia’s Kanosh, Utah article, which includes more detail about the town's History. See also the article on Chief Kanosh.